Gym Distractions
by RedBeautySkimmonsFTW
Summary: Imagine your OTP meet at a gym, and person A is so distracted by person B that they nearly injure themselves. So I saw this prompt and decided this would be the perfect opportunity to try writing something for Red Warrior/Mulan Rouge.. I hope it came out okay….


It was a rare sight to see the gym so empty in the morning.

Mulan tossed her towel over her shoulder and scanned the room. It was quiet except for the clanging of a few weights in the back. This was the time she enjoyed the gym the most. She could take her workout at her pace.

She walked toward the line of treadmills. Her body relaxed at the sight of all the empty treadmills. After a few stretches, she climbed onto one and began putting in her settings. Her free hand placed the buds in her ear as the black mat underneath her began to move. 45 minutes would do. She could run off all the stress from the week and just zone out for the rest of her work out.

Her feet began to move faster. She found herself jogging in no time and lost herself in the music filling her ears. Her eyes remained fixed on the empty spaces in front of her. She was enjoying the way her muscles burned with each step. It was in these moments she felt the freest. No stress. No distractions.

It wasn't long before someone finally joined her on the second treadmill to her right. She could see a flash of brown hair being placed in a ponytail from her peripheral vision but did her best to keep looking forward. The smell of coconut shampoo wafted her in her direction once the person on the other machine began moving. Mulan shook her head and remained staring straight ahead.

The woman to her right was none of her concern. No matter how good they smelled.

She could feel the row of machines shaking as she began to pound harder with each step. The shaking was more intense now that there were two of them. It was taking everything in her power not to turn her head just a bit to see who this person was running just as hard as her. Who this woman was that was taking her workout just as seriously as she was.

The treadmill began to speed up and Mulan found herself pushing harder to keep up. She reached for her water bottle and unscrewed the cap as she moved. The will power to not look at the occupant drifted and she found her attention shifting for just a moment. She couldn't help it. Even the most focused warriors are curious about their surroundings.

The woman was all legs and perfect jaw line. Her brown hair was up and Mulan could see the beads of sweat forming on her temple as she ran. If her full face was as beautiful as her profile, Mulan might have to break her rule about not speaking to random people at the gym.

She huffed to herself and returned her water bottle to the holder. Who was she kidding? She was confident about a lot of things, but approaching a beautiful woman was not one of them. She had been told she could be awkward which she refused to believe.

Mulan still kept her pace, returning the water bottle to the holder. Her heart was thumping hard and loud in her chest. She was positive it was from her work out. There's no way the side of someone's face could give her such a reaction.

She found herself losing her concentration. Fighting to glance at the woman. To see what she looked like straight on. She would glance quickly in her direction but turn back to her task when she would see that small smirk on the corner of the other runner's lips. Did she know Mulan was looking at her? There was no way. She wasn't that obvious, was she?

The treadmill started to creak as the incline started. Mulan could feel her muscles strain at the added tension and kept her steady pace. This is the part she enjoyed. The pressure of pushing yourself harder. Of moving faster.

Without a though, she turned her head slightly to take one final glance at the woman running next to her. To her surprise, the woman was staring back at her. Her run was obviously over as she was leaning against the control panel of the machine. Her gorgeous hazel eyes were focused on Mulan and her smirk had turned into a beautiful toothy smile. She motioned her hand for Mulan to remove her ear bud and Mulan pulled it from her ear.

"Hi." The woman greeted with a small wave.

Mulan opened her mouth to respond and that's when it happened. She wasn't sure if it was the loss of focus or her supposed awkwardness, but the treadmill decided to work against her. It climbed higher and her footing became scattered. The world around her blurred and slowed as she slipped off the treadmill and landed hard on her back on the tiled floor.

"Oh shit!"

Even the woman's voice was sexy.

"Damn it." Mulan groaned, refusing to lift herself from the floor. She could feel her body cursing her as the muscles in her back tightened with pain.

The other woman was by her side immediately. She rested on her knees, hovering over the fallen warrior. "Are you okay?" she inquired, concerning lacing her beautiful features. She reached up, tucking a random hair that escaped her ponytail behind her ear. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to distract you."

Mulan stared at her in awe for a moment before shaking her head. She cleared her throat. "I'm fine. It's not your fault." _Not entirely, anyway._ She thought as she moved slowly to raise herself from the floor.

"You shouldn't move." She stated, holding out her hands to keep Mulan lying back. "You could be really hurt."

"No, no, it's okay." Mulan insisted, sitting upright with a small groan. She cleared her throat and pushed her hair from her face. "I'm more embarrassed by my sudden clumsiness than anything else."

The woman smiled even more brightly then before. The thumping in Mulan's chest returned and she knew she couldn't blame the machine this time. She jumped to her feet and held her hand out to Mulan, offering assistance in helping her up.

"I'm Ruby." She introduced, wiggling her fingers as to encourage Mulan to take her hand.

Mulan's eyes shifted from her hand to her face. Her beautiful face with that perfect wide smile. She swallowed away the dryness in her throat and took the offered hand. "Mulan." She groaned a bit as Ruby pulled her from the floor.

"That's a pretty name."

"Thank you."

They stood in a comfortable silence for a moment unaware that they were still holding hands. When Ruby's eyes shifted to their intertwined hands, she slowly released. Mulan couldn't help but notice the small tint of pink on the woman's cheeks and she couldn't help but find it adorably endearing.

"Listen, I feel really bad about you falling." Ruby gripped the towel in her hand. "How about I buy you a smoothie to make it up to you?"

Mulan pressed her lips together trying to keep her eagerness under control. "You don't have to do that."

Ruby reached out and touched her arm. "I want too." She let her hand linger for a moment then slowly pulled it back. "Seriously. I feel awful."

Mulan allowed a small smile to break free and nodded. She could still feel the heat from Ruby's hand lingering on her shoulder. "Alright. That would be wonderful." Her smile broadened just a bit. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." She took a step to the side and motioned for Mulan to go first. "After you."

Mulan chuckled lightly and nodded again. "Once again, thank you."

Ruby's bright smile made her stomach flip and her heart swell. She made her way toward the smoothie bar and it wasn't but a moment until Ruby was next to her, falling into step.

When she left the gym a few hours later, she couldn't wipe the smile from her face. Not only did she end up having an amazing work out with an amazing woman, but she had a date for dinner later that night.

Maybe distractions weren't so bad after all.


End file.
